The Box of Kisses: a story for children that makes parents think

The Little Box of Kisses, also called, The Box Full of Kisses, is a children’s story that teaches parents the importance of words. Because mom and dad are not only responsible for meeting the needs of children, but also the way they treat their children form the image of themselves. The story, which is by an unknown author, goes like this:

The Box of Kisses

Some time ago, a man punished his little 3-year-old daughter for wasting a roll of gold wrapping paper, which he had saved for Christmas presents.

Money was tight on those days, so he exploded in fury when he saw the girl trying to wrap a cardboard box.

The little girl’s idea was to put the box under the Christmas tree as a special gift, but her father did not know this, and he yelled at her to send her to her room.

The little girl, sad and disheartened, moved from the sight of her father who continued to angrily grumble about the cost of that beautiful wasted paper.

“Don’t you know how much that paper costs? You mustn’t have played with it. Go to your room!”

So, the next morning, the girl shyly took the gift to her father and said,

–“This is for you, Daddy”.

The man was embarrassed by his previous furious reaction, but he exploded again when he saw that the box was empty.

And he again shouted at her angrily:

–

“But what kind of joke is this? Don’t you know that when you give someone a gift there’s supposed to be something inside?”.

The little girl looked up, she was shocked to see her father’s angry reaction. With tears in her eyes, and, very afraid, she told him,

–

“Oh, Daddy, it’s not empty! Last night before wrapping it up I blew a lot of kisses into that box and they’re all for you”.

The man felt very guilty for having been so cruel.

He fell to his knees, hugged her daughter and begged her to forgive him. It is said that this father kept that golden box near his bed for the rest of his life. The girl grew up and left home to start her own family. Whenever he felt alone and defeated, he took an imaginary kiss from her and remembered the love that her daughter had deposited there. Over time he understood that there was no more beautiful gift that he could have received.

Reflection

How many times have we received a golden box full of unconditional love and magical kisses from our children?

How many times have we had disproportionate reactions for superficial things?

Why is it difficult for us to understand that a kiss is worth more than any other object, however expensive it may be?

Let’s rescue that drawing full of tenderness, that poorly made craft, that little orange juice made with his little hands full of dirt and love.

There are many gifts, but none as beautiful as the love of our children.

Translated by: Ligia M. Oliver Manrique de Lara

Spanish version: Here

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